Set in the late 1960s, Aquarius stars Duchovny as a Los Angeles police sergeant with a complicated personal life who starts tracking a small-time criminal and budding cult leader seeking out vulnerable women to join his "cause". The name of that man is Charles Manson. The twists and turns of a complicated undercover operation will lead Duchovny's character and his young partner to the brink of Manson's crimes that will that will eventually lead to the Tate-LaBianca murders in subsequent seasons.